This is the stuff that irritates me about HCDB. Jeffrey played well and his reward is off the 2nd line for a guy who has not proved anything. Does any other team jerk their players around like this? Or is this normal? I wonder only because it must be hard to stay up when you play well and get scratched the next day.

Never understood why anyone cares about him. He's about as good as Tom Wandell...another anonymous NHLer that half the board has never heard of...he's just not worth bellyaching over. If we lost him on waivers, I wouldn't lose a wink of sleep...wink being the primary unit of measure for sleep...

If Boychuck opportunity doesn't come about, I'm sure he gets another game in that spot. He had enough positive over negative to get another nod, but you can't control who is available on waivers. So far it looks like like Boychuk is an improvement and that is Shero's job, to make moves to improve the team. Jeffrey's job is to just work hard in practice and be ready if needed.

Wasn't he screening the goalie on Malkin's goal? Has he been on the ice for a goal yet? People were saying he was one of the few Pens on the ice vs the Isle who actually looked good.

If we'd had Boychuck on the roster and we just picked up Jeffrey, people would be calling Boychuck a turd and hailing the new toy Jeffrey...

Stop stating facts. Jeffrey played very well in NY. I like Boychuk today and hipe he can keep Jeffrey on the bench or on the 4th line. In either case, we are stronger if Jeffrey can't crack the lineup, because he can play in this league.

guiner wrote:If Boychuck opportunity doesn't come about, I'm sure he gets another game in that spot. He had enough positive over negative to get another nod, but you can't control who is available on waivers. So far it looks like like Boychuk is an improvement and that is Shero's job, to make moves to improve the team. Jeffrey's job is to just work hard in practice and be ready if needed.

This. It is ideal if both guys can contribute in whatever role they are offered. Does anyone remember the black aces of the Cup runs? You need at least 4 or 5 guys outside of the regular roster to contribute something to win a Cup. That's if you don't have an unusual number of injuries.

columbia wrote:I'm sure he'll get in another 10-15 games this year (under whatever circumstances) and that seems appropriate for what he is:a capable and completely unremarkable plugin.

More and more, I'm of the mind that potential is less important than production. He's another guy that was great in WBS and came to PGH and hasn't clicked. Hurts to burn so many guys, but he and Tangradi are not unreasonable casualties. Trade if possible, or let them have their shot elsewhere.

That said, other teams do move players around alot, and I don't think even the guys moving around think its abnormal. Check out what Toronto has done to their talent in the last few years.

columbia wrote:I'm sure he'll get in another 10-15 games this year (under whatever circumstances) and that seems appropriate for what he is:a capable and completely unremarkable plugin.

More and more, I'm of the mind that potential is less important than production. He's another guy that was great in WBS and came to PGH and hasn't clicked. Hurts to burn so many guys, but he and Tangradi are not unreasonable casualties. Trade if possible, or let them have their shot elsewhere.

That said, other teams do move players around alot, and I don't think even the guys moving around think its abnormal. Check out what Toronto has done to their talent in the last few years.

What irks me about HCDB is that he never seems to leave things alone LONG ENOUGH to get a good appraisal. Production comes from being in a role that suits a player, and these guys don't even seem to get a full game before they are swapped around to a Totally different role. A couple of instances from 1st to 4th line.

ExPatriatePen wrote:That's because he's trying to figure out what *his* system is.

HCDB has no confidence, you don't think the players sense that?

Never thought about it that way... I think its fair to say that he's struggled with the adjustments he's had to make, but offensively we've been dominant under HCDB. He's gotten a ton out of Sid and Geno, considering they've been easily the #1 and #2 players in the world when healthy.

Where I see the most problem is with the application of role players (i.e. everyone has to play multiple roles in the system so weaknesses are exposed) and getting younger guys to fit in. He does seem to give up fast on those guys.